You've got MAIL!!

So I couldn't help wondering how you are doing....How's the job? the significant other? ....how's God and you?

I am the first to admit that I've been ignoring the Bible...I lost passion for it. But, even with lots of prayer asking God for motivation, excitement, and love for His Word...nothing happened, until, after weeks of lingering in a passive state (thanks Aaron O'harra), I FINALLY was obediant and ACTED out of faith. How can the Lord reach my ears if I have forsaken His Word, and worse yet, ask Him to GIVE to me motivation, excitement, and love when I won't even OPEN UP THE BIBLE in obedience....EXPECTING wisdom (by asking God what He wants me to hear from His Word), motivation, excitement and love. For God tells us in James to ask for Wisdom and to ASK HIM what His will is for us, and that He would gladly give it to us...

~James 1:5-8 5If you need wisdom--if you want to know what God wants you to do--ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. 6But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8They can't make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do.~

But notice how He says that don't ask if you waver in unbelief?..don't be a passive fool.

There are so many times where I ask God about specific things....And then I wait, and WAIT!................. ................. ...... .................... .......................... ......... oh! I'm sorry, I'm still waiting, but you don't have to wait with me, I'll continue with this letter...... (I'm still waiting, by the way)

So I ask God about certain things.....but I tend to hear Him answer questions that I didn't even ask.
"Are You serious, God? Are You trying to be funny?" I'll tease Him...

But He will tell me to, "Listen Child!"
"Child?" I'll think, "Lord, come on now,, we both know that I'm 26 and a HALF!" But I put the jokes aside and now that even though I have asked Him for specific things, I also ask to Hear His voice. So although He may not specifically be answering what I asked for (the latter), He is absolutely answering the former, to hear Him. It kind of jolts me when He says stuff out of the blue (or purple. I like purple a lot, even though for years I claimed blue as my favorite. I just had a submission problem)...and how do I know it's Him?

Well, not that there is specifically a formula, but God talks to me pretty much in the way I talk, except He will bring out His "big daddy" voice at times to make a point clear. You know what He had the nerve to do RIGHT before I fell asleep last night? He told me that I am no one to speak about forgiveness, because I was guilty of stubborness, holding a grudge, selfishness, and disobediance, and hypocrisy. SIN. Okay, I get it....all He asked me to forgive and repent. DARN IT!! It happened over a year ago, and basically my ego was hurt. WHO CARES! I need to step into obedience and get cleaned out, cuz I don't want to have all that SIN as a filter into my heart. That would be mis-leading me into bad judgement, to where I would even be filtering out God's Voice through that junky ol' SIN, more than likely, ruining His message to me, most assuredly muffling out His voice--I would be lucky to have even noticed that it was God in the first place.

So, back to my formula-thingy, but again, this is based off of my experience with God. And when I am in doubt (that it was Him), there are a few things that I need to remember.

..1. Philippians 4:8 (NAS)

"8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."

..2. I pray about it and wait for God to speak to my heart. Kind of a feeling type thing, but not always. It's His Holy Spirit, really. But, God did create us to be emotional, and He does use emotion.

..3. Test it to scripture. The thing that He tells you, does it sound like God? Well, my first thing to ask is, if you don't read His Word, then how could you know if it sounds like something that He would say? **Read your Bible!**

..4. AND, you can always go to others, asking them for prayer and such. Go to a pastor, you know...RESEARCH!!

If somebody told you that I (heather) had said that I HATE bumble bees, well, if you know me, you could tell that that person didn't know me well, if at all, because you would think, "That doesn't sound like Heather at all! She would never say such a thing." You would only be able to conclude...this conclusion (hehehe) if you had actually spent time with me, talking with me, and getting to know me. AND IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW ME, YOU NEED TO LOVE ME. You must LOVE God!

Anyways, just a reallly looong thought. Sorry....kind of. Oh ya...just to bring this up again also...

~Isaiah 45:19 (NLT)
19I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner so no one can understand what I mean. And I did not tell the people of Israel to ask me for something I did not plan to give. I, the LORD, speak only what is true and right.